The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Pablo Quirno, announced this Wednesday the release of the two Argentinians arrested a month ago in eastern Libya along with eight other activists, when they were part of a caravan carrying humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip. The head of Argentine diplomacy stressed that his ministry has not engaged in "politics or spectacle" in the process to secure the release of the two nationals.
Through his social media, the minister indicated that María Paula Giménez and Lucas Ezequiel Aguilera, members of the Caravana Global Sumud Land initiative, were "expelled" this Wednesday morning from eastern Libya. He added that both are "safe" in Istanbul, where they have received assistance from the staff of the Argentine Consulate General in the Turkish city.
Quirno highlighted that to achieve the release of the two Argentinians, detained on May 24 in Sirte, it was necessary for the Argentine consul in Tunis to travel to Benghazi, in addition to "arduous efforts" with the authorities of "friendly" countries, UNSMIL (United Nations Support Mission in Libya), and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Likewise, he insisted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "does not play politics or put on a show with Argentine citizens who need help abroad." "All these efforts were carried out with the caution that the situation warranted, due to the complexity of the case and the legal-political context in which they took place," he remarked, also conveying his gratitude to the diplomatic staff stationed in Tunis for their "professionalism (...) in particularly complex conditions."
The Caravana Global Sumud Land had reported at the end of May the detention of ten of its activists—from Italy, Argentina, the United States, Poland, Uruguay, Spain, Portugal, and Tunisia—by the authorities of eastern Libya, as they were trying to negotiate the passage of the convoy at a checkpoint near the city of Sirte.
Spanish authorities announced this Wednesday the release of activist Alicia Armesto, while Italy had already confirmed the day before the release from prison of its two citizens who were traveling in the same caravan, which had departed from Mauritania approximately one month before being blocked in Libyan territory.
The convoy was composed of ten trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, seven ambulances, and more than 200 people, including specialists in medicine, engineering, logistics, and International Humanitarian Law.